aphexddb.com

http://www.fitnathemovie.com

Shame on you Network Solutions! Pre-emptive censorship!?

Un-American asshats!

How can a site with no content violate your terms of use, yet you host all sorts of porn and hate speech (Al Queda, Hezbollah), etc. Cultural marxism is a scary thing.

 ”The problem, Glenn, and you and I talked about the political correctness tyranny in this country. There`s a great British social commentator Named Pat Cundeau (ph) who said the lie of political correctness is that we`re being told that what we should think is more important than what we do think. “

Number of locations on earth which can make 600 ton steel ingots: 1. How is that possible? I guess even in 2008 materials science pales in comparison with making massive blocks of steel.

The Japan Steel factory’s rusting, corrugated-metal warehouses, blackened by soot, belie the precision and patience required to fashion a 600-ton steel ingot into a tube with walls 30 centimeters (12 inches) thick. Blue-clad workers, some wearing balaclavas to keep warm, draw on knowledge built up when Japan Steel made the 18-inch gun barrel — the world’s largest at the time — for the World War II battleship Yamato. A 1945 attack on the Muroran plant killed more than 200 workers.

“Our accumulated technology for cannon barrels helped us make this technical breakthrough in forging,” plant manager Sato said.

The company’s basic product, steel of the highest quality, has the same enduring appeal as the samurai swords still fashioned in limited quantities by craftsmen at the plant.

15,000 Tons

To make the 600-ton ingot, workers heat steel scrap in an electric furnace to as high as 2,000 degrees Celsius (3,600 degrees Fahrenheit). Then they fill each of five giant ladles with 120 tons of the orange-hot molten metal. Argon gas is injected to eliminate impurities, and manganese, chromium and nickel are added to make the steel harder.

The mixture is poured into a blackened casing to form ingots 4.2 meters wide in the rough shape of a cylinder. Five times over three weeks, the ingots are pressed, reheated and re-pressed under 15,000 tons applied by a machine that rotates them gradually, making the floor tremble as it works.

The heavy forging is needed to make the steel uniformly strong by aligning the crystal lattices of atoms that make up the metal, known as the grain. In a casting, they would be jumbled.

It would take any competitor more than five years to catch up with Japan Steel’s technology, said the company’s chief executive officer, Masahisa Nagata.

via Bloomberg

What a strange day for Warner Bros. First, rumors explode today that they’re giving the heave-ho to Spike Jonze’s Where the Wild Things Are, and now word arrives that they’ve greenlit two ambitious live-action films based on the landmark Japanese manga and anime Akira, with Leonardo DiCaprio‘s Appian Way producing. Mere rumor is he may star as the lead character, Kaneda, in the franchise, which will be set in New Manhattan, “a new metropolis rebuilt after being destroyed 31 years earlier.” The first film is being fast tracked for summer 2009.

via Slash Film

Now my kids are going to know what my day to day life was like, yikes. Bye-bye prehistory!

The date marking the end of prehistory, that is the date when written historical records become a useful academic resource, varies from region to region. In Egypt it is generally accepted that prehistory ended around 3200 BC whereas in New Guinea the end of the prehistoric era is set much more recently, 1900.

via Wikipedia

I did find a super video about Twitter, why it’s useful, and it’s role in social relationships and interactions. I got the video from jasonbutler42 and hist post made me go find my first tweet (April 08, 2007 @ 8:15 PM) almost one year ago!

via jasonbutler42.com

This is the most accurate flowcart ever created. It speaks truly to the process of geek evolution and how D&D is at the root of all that is awesome. Thanks Gary Gygax, rest in peace.

via nytimes.com

Hate to see this thing pop out of a heating vent and have a laser sight aimed at your head.

I just watched a short clip from the one of the creative people behind the super low power XO laptop. The thing only uses 2 watts, has replaceable parts, and can be powered via solar panels or a hand crank. It also has no toxic components, costs $100, and has a color LCD screen you can read in full sunlight.
http://blip.tv/scripts/flash/showplayer.swf?enablejs=true&feedurl=http%3A%2F%2FScribeMedia%2Eblip%2Etv%2Frss&file=http%3A%2F%2Fblip%2Etv%2Frss%2Fflash%2F688495&showplayerpath=http%3A%2F%2Fblip%2Etv%2Fscripts%2Fflash%2Fshowplayer%2Eswf

What an amazing device, this is really the future of electronics.

People are trying to make a buck off of green. Green is actually cheaper. Green isn’t about (sigh) buying more stuff.

via Scribe Media

The URA / FILOART developed device promises to the citizens of a more reliable protection against security measures of the state (and other Überwachenden). IR.ASC bietet die Sicherheit vor der Sicherheit und weist somit auf die Asymmetrie der Kräfte zwischen dem Überwachenden und dem Individuum hin. IR.ASC offers the safety and security has therefore to the asymmetry of power between the individual and Überwachenden.

via Oberwelt e.V.

Kinda cool, a curtain that you can arrange in any  shape or position. Perfect for all you hip urban loft dwellers. (Why don’t I have one?)

via Florian Kräutli